September 2012 – Page 6

Open Thread–9/15/2012

Posted by TomCat at 10:34 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 152012

Yesterday I saw my Cardiologist, and she said that my heart passed with flying colors. My left ventricular ejection fraction was 75% at rest and under stress. She thinks the extra beats and tachycardia are completely due to reduced O₂ from my COPD. Unfortunately the COPD remained severe yesterday and the heat exceeded the forecast, so I am still way behind on sleep and feeling it. I caught up on replies, but did not answer most individually. Tomorrow is a holy day in the Church of the Ellipsoid Orb.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:07 (average 4:22). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: We Really Wish We Hadn’t Won This Gold Medal

15Prison

Prison is both the most expensive and the least effective method of corrections, a lesson both parties need to learn.

From NY Times: As four flag-draped coffins bearing the bodies of the Americans killed in Libya arrived in the United States on Friday, new details emerged of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens’s final hours, alone, locked in a smoke-filled room in a diplomatic mission under siege.

In a solemn ceremony at Joint Base Andrews outside the capital, President Obama said the victims “laid down their lives for us all” and vowed to honor their memory by never retreating from the world.

How very sad! Thoughts and prayers for the families, please.

From Alternet: Romney immigration adviser and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is considering banning President Barack Obama from the ballot in his state this fall for a lack of sufficient proof that he was born in the United States.

He and his colleagues on the Kansas’s Objections Board will decide Monday whether to accept the birther-based attempt to debilitate Obama’s re-election. The move was prompted by a Kansas resident’s written complaint that Obama may be lying about where he was born.

I understand that it has been called off, but for such Teabuggery to be pushed by a campaign advisor to a presidential nominee is inexcusable.

Cartoon:

15Cartoon

And he is the least moral and most irresolute of the bunch.

Open Thread–9/14/2012

Posted by TomCat at 6:17 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 142012

Yesterday the heat interfered with my sleep again, so I am pooped. I’m rushing to get this article up before my Cardiologist appointment. I’m not current with replies. Tomorrow I hope to begin catching up.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:03 (average 5:16). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Chris Rock Has A Crystal Clear Analogy For Undecided Voters

14chrisrock

How appropriate, because the Republican Party is the cancer that afflicts this nation.

From NY Times: Romney shows no respect for diplomacy in general. He declares that “God did not create this country to be a nation of followers” and maintains that “in an American century, America leads the free world.” [Willard delinked] His surrogates repeatedly mock President Obama’s “apology tour” and his unfortunate “leading from behind” formulation on Libya. His principal advisers, John Bolton and Dan Senor, are part of a neocon hard core that opposes any policy that would diminish American sovereignty or freedom of action. Yet faced with the vexing issue of whether the Middle East should be further roiled by an Israeli attack on Iran in an attempt to stop its nuclear program, Romney is willing to outsource that decision to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

InsaniTEA! We’ve already seen what the Neocons brought us, and Netanyahu in the driver’s seat over Iran is like Hitler in the driver’s seat over Poland!

From The New Yorker: One day after he was roundly criticized by both parties for his comments about Libya, Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney attempted to burnish his foreign-policy credentials today, telling reporters that “no one has spent more time overseas than my money has.”

“My money has served in banks from Switzerland to Bermuda, and from Bermuda to the Cayman Islands,” Mr. Romney said. “I challenge my opponent’s money to equal that record of service.”

He does have a point. His money is far more qualified and worth far more than he is.

Cartoon:

14Cartoon

Open Thread–9/13/2012

Posted by TomCat at 8:22 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Sep 132012

Yesterday the returning heat set off my COPD, and I was unable to sleep last night. Therefore this is my only article for the day. I am behind on replies and will catch up when I can. Tomorrow I have a very early follow up appointment with my Cardiologist, so if I even post an Open Thread, it will be late.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:46 (average 5:01). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: The Graphic Every Obama-Blaming Conservative Needs To See

13mess

Shhh! We’re not supposed to know that!

From NY Times: The history of the film — who financed it; how it was made; and perhaps most important, how it was translated into Arabic and posted on YouTube to Muslim viewers — was shrouded Wednesday in tales of a secret Hollywood screening; a director who may or may not exist, and used a false name if he did; and actors who appeared, thanks to computer technology, to be traipsing through Middle Eastern cities. One of its main producers, Steve Klein, a Vietnam veteran whose son was severely wounded in Iraq, is notorious across California for his involvement with anti-Muslim actions, from the courts to schoolyards to a weekly show broadcast on Christian radio in the Middle East. [emphasis added]

It appears that Republican Supply-side Jesus was blaming a fictitious Jew for an atrocity by Supply-side pseudo-Christian hatemongers.

From MSNBC: Maddow’s Hypothesis

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The notion that the attack was Al Qaeda terrorism, pre-planned for that date and that location is, in my opinion, the most plausible suggestion I have heard. If so, the demonstration over the Republican Supply-side Jesus hate film was only a coincidental convenience for the terrorists, screening their approach.

Cartoon:

13Cartoon

Open Thread–9/12/2012

Posted by TomCat at 10:05 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics, Religion

Sep 122012

Yesterday I met with a dozen prisoners for our CoDA group. A lot of the discussion focused on our need to maintain healthy relationships with ourselves, and as always, I could not have been more proud of my guys. I returned home late and pooped. I slept late this morning, so this will be today’s only article. I am not current with replies, but will catch up when I can. Tomorrow appears routine.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:47 (average 4:49). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Why Some Women All Across The Country Are Rethinking Their Party

For men, as well as women, unless you are rich and dominated by your own greed, a hatemonger or a fanatic trying to force your religious dogma on others, the Republican Party is wrong for you.

From NY Times: Protesters angry over an amateurish American-made video denouncing Islam attacked the United States Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Tuesday, killing a State Department officer, while Egyptian demonstrators stormed over the fortified walls of the United States Embassy here.

Here’s that video:

I am behind the curve on this issue, so I do not have much to say. However, I remember millions of evangelicals demonstrating in anger over "The Last Temptation of Christ", and this garbage film is far more offensive. I understand people’s anger over it, but not the actions of the murderers. There is no conflict between authentic Christians and authentic Muslims. The conflict is between Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians and right-wing Muslim extremists, both of which seek to impose their dogma on others. Remember that the Libyans trying to save our people are Muslims too. I condemn Willard Romney for his desperate and dangerous political opportunism, and I ask your thoughts and prayers for the families of the four slain Americans.

From Democracy Now: The IRS has announced a record $104 million reward to a whistleblower who exposed the largest tax evasion scheme in U.S. history. Former UBS AG banker Brad Birkenfeld first reported in 2007 that he and his colleagues had encouraged rich Americans to store more than $20 billion in offshore Swiss bank accounts and cheat the IRS. But after coming forward, Birkenfeld was prosecuted and convicted of conspiracy and sentenced to prison. Following Birkenfeld’s release last month, on Tuesday the IRS vindicated his actions with the largest amount ever awarded under its whistleblower program.

I wonder whether he knows anything about Willard’s tax evasion using Swiss banks. Do you think this makes Willard nervous?

Cartoon:

12Cartoon

Reflections Eleven Years Later

Posted by TomCat at 8:19 am Editorial, Politics

Sep 112012

11-911Firemen

Eleven years ago this morning, I was getting ready for work when the first airliner hit the twin towers. Like most Americans, I felt confused and wondered just what was going on. The second airline hit just as I was walking out the door. I realized then that it was a terrorist attack. When I arrived at work, my job for that day was to talk to executives in fortune 500 companies in New York City to arrange research visits by a team from a major manufacturer of operating systems. The account exec had not yet arrived, so I talked to his assistant and told her that I did not consider it appropriate to be calling New York companies, many of which were headquartered in the WTC, under those circumstances. She ordered me to proceed, saying that terrorists cannot stop doing business, so I followed my orders. As I called. most of my contact phones were out of order. The few that I did reach were irate about me contacting them at that time. One man answered the phone and told me that he was in one of the towers above the fire line. He could not reach his wife, so he have me her number and asked me to call and tell her he loved her. I did. I don’t know which of us was crying harder. That was it. I could not keep making calls, so I went back to the Account Exec’s office and told him so. He seemed shocked that I had been calling and asked why. I told him I was following orders, he asked what idiot had told me to do that. Needless to say, his assistant is a Republican. The company cancelled all projects for the day. Most of us gathered in the lunch room. Because everyone knew I was an activist, they asked me what I thought would happen. I told them that I expected the Bush Regime would use it as an excuse to do two things: crack down on civil liberties in the US and attack Iraq. I wish I had been wrong.

In years past I have always avoided issues of culpability, but this year I cannot do so in good conscience. That is because Republicans keep presenting themselves as the party that has kept America safe and Democrats as the party that puts America at risk. On August 6, 2001, President Bush was given a top secret Daily Brief that Osama bin Laden intended to attack the US using explosives and hijacked Airliners. The Bush Regime ignored the warning. That is not the way to keep us safe. Bush and the Republican party did not do so, nor were they able to bring Osama to justice. It took a Democratic administration to do that. I have no desire to politicize the day, but will do so as long as Republicans keep lying about it. That explains the controversial “cartoon” I included in the Open Thread immediately preceding this article.

Let me close by honoring the fire firefighters and police who gave their lives and their health to save as many as they could and ask your thoughts and prayers for them and their families. They were the heroes of that day.

Open Thread–9/11/2012

Posted by TomCat at 8:18 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 112012

I have two articles today and am current with replies, as I rush to get everything done before leaving for volunteer work in prison. Tomorrow I will be pooped and may not be online.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:01 (average 4:56). To do it, click here. How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report:

Here are the results from our fantasy football league, Lefty Blog Friends.

TomCat Teabag Trashers

Progressive Underdogs

105.78

98.60

Texans Will Rise Again

Playing without a helmet

95.24

121.32

MittsMagicJock

hugos renegades

97.42

111.36

Standings

Points

Rank

Team Name

W-L-T

Pct

Streak

Waiver

For

Against

1 (1)

Playing without a helmet

1-0-0

1.000

W1

6

121.32

95.24

2 (2)

hugos renegades

1-0-0

1.000

W1

5

111.36

97.42

3 (3)

TomCat Teabag Trashers

1-0-0

1.000

W1

4

105.78

98.60

4 (4)

Progressive Underdogs

0-1-0

.000

L1

3

98.60

105.78

5 (5)

MittsMagicJock

0-1-0

.000

L1

2

97.42

111.36

6 (6)

Texans Will Rise Again

0-1-0

.000

L1

1

95.24

121.32

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: Robert Reich And Jared Bernstein Expose Mitt Romney’s Main Campaign Lies

Virtually everything Romney says is a lie, but understanding these two is critical for every American voter.

From NY Times: If the first weekend of Mitt Romney’s general election campaign is any indication, the country is in for eight weeks of wild, often random answers to some of the most important policy questions. Voters trying to understand the positions of Mr. Romney and Representative Paul Ryan are going to have a harder time than ever.

On issue after issue raised in the first weekend of interviews after the conventions, Romney and Ryan actively tried to obscure their positions, as if a clear understanding of their beliefs about taxes, health care or spending would scare away anyone who was listening. Aware that President Obama’s policies in these areas are quite popular once people learn about them, the Republicans are simply sowing confusion. Here are a few examples:

Romney and Ryan can succeed only if American voters do not understand their positions. Click through for the rest. It’s worth the read.

From The Daily Beast: You have to give him points for consistency at least. Missouri Republican Rep. Todd Akin said on Monday that he’s “totally in” the Senate race despite the national firestorm over his “legitimate rape” comments last month. Republicans have until Sept. 25 to force Akin to drop out.

That is excellent news.

Cartoon:

11Cartoon

Understand the Republican Plot

Posted by TomCat at 9:50 am Politics

Sep 102012

Republicans are trying to turn the conversation from a legitimate comparison of policies to a condemnation of Obama’s so-called failure to undo all the effects of the Republican recession. This is not a recent approach. In fact, Republicans were scheming on Obama’s inauguration day to set up this case to return them to power. To understand Obama’s first term, you must first understand the Republican Plot. Paul Krugman does.

Does anyone remember the American Jobs Act? A year ago President Obama proposed boosting the economy with a combination of tax cuts and spending increases, aimed in particular at sustaining state and local government employment. Independent analysts reacted favorably. For example, the consulting firm Macroeconomic Advisers estimated that the act would add 1.3 million jobs by the end of 2012.

There were good reasons for these positive assessments. Although you’d never know it from political debate, worldwide experience since the financial crisis struck in 2008 has overwhelmingly confirmed the proposition that fiscal policy “works,” that temporary increases in spending boost employment in a depressed economy (and that spending cuts increase unemployment). The Jobs Act would have been just what the doctor ordered.

But the bill went nowhere, of course, blocked by Republicans in Congress. And now, having prevented Mr. Obama from implementing any of his policies, those same Republicans are pointing to disappointing job numbers and declaring that the president’s policies have failed.

Think of it as a two-part strategy. First, obstruct any and all efforts to strengthen the economy, then exploit the economy’s weakness for political gain. If this strategy sounds cynical, that’s because it is. Yet it’s the G.O.P.’s best chance for victory in November… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Photo credit: FreakOutNation

Chris Hayes documented this point well.

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I know I’m preaching to the choir here, and repeating something I have been saying, over and over again, since I predicted it before Obama ever became President. The problem is that far too few American voters understand that this is what is going on, and it’s up to us to spread the word. So I’m sure I will keep harping on this issue, and hope you do as well.

Chris Hayes summarized the solution perfectly: "The best way [for voters] to stop Republicans from holding them hostage is to strip them of power in November."

Shhhh! It’s a Secret!

Posted by TomCat at 9:49 am Politics

Sep 102012

Romney and Ryan are desperately etching their sketches at record pace, trying to make themselves more palatable to middle class voters. To do that, they are trying to say they will lower middle class taxes by closing loopholes for the rich. Which loopholes will they close? Shhhh! It’s a secret!

Ryan said on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos” that ending tax loopholes used by high-income earners allows for lower tax rates for the rest of the country.

“Here’s the point I’m trying to make here, George,” Ryan said. “We think the secret to economic growth is lower tax rates for families and successful small businesses by plugging loopholes.”

“Now the question is, not necessarily what loopholes go, but who gets them,” Ryan continued. “High-income earners use most of the loopholes. That means they can shelter their income from taxation.”

Stephanopoulos pressed Ryan for specifics. “Don’t voters have a right — to know which loopholes you’re going to go after?” he asked.

“So Mitt Romney and I, based on our experience, think the best way to do this is to show the framework, show the outlines of these plans, and then to work with Congress to do this,” Ryan said. “That’s how you get things done.”

Ryan dismissed the idea that the plan is a secret one… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Washington Post>

Photo credit: Who Wants Taters

That certainly was a big duck! The quack resonated across the nation! It’s not a secret. They just refuse to say! Surprisingly, a conservative has shed considerable light on this.

On ABC’s "This Week" roundtable Sunday, conservative columnist George Will questioned the mathematical soundness of the Romney-Ryan tax cut plan. It’s estimated to cost trillions of dollars but Mitt Romney vows that it will be revenue neutral by closing unspecified loopholes on high-income taxpayers.

"There is uncertainty surrounding the Romney-Ryan tax cut plan, because they have not specified the deductions that will be closed," Will said. "And we know where the big money is: mortgage interest deductions, charitable deductions, taxing that’s compensation, which it is, employee-provided health insurance, and state and local taxes. All of those, you either hit only the rich, in which case you don’t get much money, or you hit the middle class."… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <TPM>

Photo credit: Salon.com

Will’s reasoning is impeccable.

If Romney planned to hit the rich, he would not be afraid to say how. The reason that the Republican plan has to stay secret is they can’t afford to tell voters that they plan to keep faith with millionaires, billionaires and corporate criminals at our expense. The rich will get their big cuts, and the Republicans will hit the middle class to pay for it. The only thing changing is their rhetoric.

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